Afghan refugee dies in clashes at Greece refugee camp

An Afghan refugee has died following clashes at a refugee camp near the Greek capital, Athens, which also saw a large demonstration in solidarity with the asylum seekers stranded in the European country.

Police said on Thursday that the 20-year-old Afghan man was injured in clashes with dozens of other men, mainly from Afghanistan, in the camp at Hellinikon.

He was transferred to a nearby hospital but died from his wounds, said the police, adding that two other refugees were also injured in the scuffles.

Over 57,000 refugees have been stranded in Greece since European countries closed their borders and the EU and Turkey signed a deal to stop the flow of refugees into Europe via the Aegean Sea.

Some 3,000 people, mostly from Afghanistan, live in the Hellinikon camp.

Several clashes have broken out in different refugee camps across Greece as many of the refugees have been waiting for months to be processed.

In another development on Thursday, thousands of people gathered outside the Greek parliament and urged the government to change its refugee policies that they say “entrap thousands of refugees” in the country and deprive them of “the very basic rights.”

Greece and Italy are entry points into the EU for refugees fleeing conflicts in North Africa and the Middle East.